Despite doing their standard reports at the time, the Portuguese media were very quiet about Pedro Caixinha’s sacking from Rangers. They weren’t able to break the news first, and didn’t speak to any of Rangers’ Portuguese players at the time.
But now Portuguese newspaper Record managed to interview Daniel Candeias, the winger who was brought to Rangers and the Scottish Premiership by his compatriot manager this summer.
Despite being separated from his old boss, the 29-year-old seems pretty happy at the club, where he claims to have adapted very well.
“Everything has gone very well,” Candeias told Record. “I adapted easily even for having a Portuguese manager at the start of the season and I played a lot so far. The atmosphere in the games is fantastic, the stadiums are always full and the motivation is not lacking. I’m happy at Rangers.
“Feedback is good. The people like me and I feel cherished by our fans in every game. As far as I can tell, there is still no song for me, but when I do something in the games, they move a lot. It’s always good to feel this support.”
Especially asked about his former Ibrox boss, Candeias claims Europa League elimination was crucial for the sacking, but defeat against Motherwell at home was the really decisive one.
“The (Europe) elimination marked the season for Caixinha. Left him at work in a certain way, conditioned. The club wanted to play in Europe and it wasn’t possible. But the manager always gave everything for the club and protected the group. It’s already known that in football, a whole squad is never dismissed and the coach is the one who ends up paying.
“It was in that (Motherwell) game that everything changed. We were clearly the best team, but there were strange things in that game. For example, they broke the nose of Fábio Cardoso and the opponent didn’t even get a yellow. It was difficult to manage.”
But Caixinha didn’t say much after the sacking: “No. He didn’t say anything. But I also believe that everything went very quickly. We now have to focus on the future and continue the work so that we can smile at the end.”
Regarding the new boss Graeme Murty, Candeias said: “He was already from the house and has talked to us a lot, giving us important advice. We are accepting his job well and confidence is rising. He didn’t change the style of the game much, there were some changes and we won the two games.”
